langen



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. LANGEN.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF UOMBUSTIBLE GAS.

N0.'258,7'74. Patented May 30,1882.

FIG. 1

N. PETERS, Phcla-Lilhugnpher. wasnin mm 0. c4

'2 Sheets--Shee u 2.

(No Model.)

B. LANGEN.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUPAOTURE OF OOMBUSTIBLE GAS. No. 258,774.

Patented May 30, 1882.

FIE-1.5

FIGZ

N. PETERS. Puzzle-Lithographer. Waahington. D. C.

ilnrran STATES arena Gaines,

EUGEN LANGEN, OF COLOGNE, GERMANY.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF COMBUSTIBLE GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,774, dated May 30,1882.

Application filed May 25, 1881. (No model.) Patented in England May 2,1881, No. 1,691; in France May 9, 1881, No. 142,751; in Belgium May 12,1881, No. 54,617; in Italy May 31, 1881, in Austria July 3, 1981, and inSpain October 6, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EUGEN LANGEN, a citizen of Prussia, residing atCologne, in the Empire of Germany, have invented an Improvement inApparatus for the Manufacture of Combustible Gas, of which the followingis a specification.

Myinvcntion has reference to the production of combustible gas in thatdescription of gas-producers in which the coal or carbonaceousmaterialis caused to descend continuously in a vertical or inclinedshaftor retort,at the lower end of which imperfect combustion ofthematerial with air is caused to take place, producing carbonic oxide andnitrogen, while the heat evolved is caused to distill off the volatileconstituents of the carbonaceous material in the upper part of theshaft, the different kinds of gases so generated being led off eitherseparately from or together with each other. The presence of the largeproportion of nitrogen in the said gases, produced by imperfectcombustion of the fuel, is in many cases a source of great inconveniencein the application of these gases for industrial purposes; and one partof the present invention has for its object to effeet the productionofcombustible gases in gasproducers of the kind above referred to insuch a manner that from a given quantity of carbonaceous material thereshall be generated the maximum quantity of combustible gas more or lessentirely free from nitrogen. For this purpose the before-mentionedcarbonicoxide andnitrogen gases produced at the lower part of the shaftor retort are entirely or in great part conducted out of the same into aseparate chamber or flue, where the carbonic oxide is caused to enterinto combustion with heated air, the heatso produced being employed toassist in the conversion of steam or other suitable fluid intocombustible gases, that take the place of the carbonic oxide withdrawnfrom the producer. By preference the combustion of the said gas iscaused to take place in an annular chamber surrounding the shaft orretort in which the carbonaceous matter descends, into which annularchamber air previously heated to a high degree by the gaseous productsof such combustion is conducted, so as by the combustion to heat thecarbonaceous contents of the retort to a very high do I gree, andconsequently to distill from the same a maximum quantity of volatileconstituents at a point some distance above that where the. carbonicoxide and nitrogen are withdrawn, the steam or other fluid beingintroduced into such highly-heated portion of the carbonaceous matter,in contact with which it becomes decomposed, producing, in the case ofsteam, pure carbonic oxide and hydrogen, and compounds of the latterwith carbon, which, in ascending, mix together with the othercarbonaceous gases distilled off from the fuel in the upper part of theretort, and pass away with them to wherever required. If these gases areto be employed for heating purposes only, then steam alone may beemployed, as described; but if they are to be used forilluminatingpurposes, then some hydrocarbon fluid-such as petroleum-may beintroduced, together with the steam, to add to the illuminating power ofthe gases produced.

Various arrangements of gas' producers may be employed for carrying outthe above-described method of operating.

Figure l of the accompanying drawings shows a vertical section, and Fig.2 shows a sectional plan on line X X, of the arrangement which I preferto employ.

The upper part of the apparatus consists of the space A, into which thecarbonaceous material is charged, surrounded by an annular space, E,into which the gases produced by distillation escape through holes 0 inthe lower part of A, the parts A and B being conveniently made of metalin one casting. From the space B the gases are conducted away towherever required by the pipe B. Below the spaceAis the shaft orretortO, which is heated externally to a high degree, and in which thedistillation of the volatile constituents from the carbonaceous materialis consequently carried on as this gradually descends toward the lowerchamber, D, where the conversion of the non-volatile constituents intocombustible gas is effected by their imperfect combustion with airadmitted below. This generating-chamber consists of a cast-iron easinglined with refractory material, its lower end dipping into watercontained in a tank, E, and having at its middle a fire-grate, F,supplied with air by the pipe F. The grate may either be so constructedas to prevent the descent of any carbonaceous matter past it, so thatthe whole of the fuel is converted into combustible gas, in which casethe water-tank E would be dispensed with; or when it is not desired toconvert the whole of the material into gas the grate may be formed, asshown on the drawings, so as to allow a certain portion of thecarbonaceous material to descend past it into the tank E, whence it iswithdrawn from time to time. From the top of the chamber D thecombustible gases generated therein, being carbonic oxide and nitrogen,are led by flnes G into an annular combustion-chamber, H, surroundingthe retort C, while at the same time highly-heated air passes into thesaid chamber by a flue, J. The flnes G and J are led up some height inthe chamberH, as shown, so as by the combustion of the gas and air toproduce an intense heat in the upper part of the retort O and itscontents, thereby distilling off from the carbonaceous material themaximum quantity of volatile constituents as it descends, and before itreaches the upper end of the chamber D. The lower part of the annularcombnstioirchamber H is formed narrower, and from its lowest and coolestpoint the hot gaseous products of combustion are led by fines K into theregenerator L, where they are caused before escaping to the chimney M toimpart a great part of their heat to the incoming air on its way to thecombustionchamber.

Theregeneratorconsistsofachamberdivided by a sloping partition, N,formed of metal plates, into two passages, of which L, through which theair passes, is formed of small depth, so as to bring the air intointimate contact with the partition N, while the passage L into whichthe hotproducts of combustion pass, is formed of considerable capacitywhere the products enter, and gradually narrows toward the exit end. Bythis arrangement the gaseous products are prevented, on entering, fromheating the metal plates N to too high a degree, such as would rapidlydestroy them, as is frequently the case with the ordinary con structionof regenerators with metallic partitions, while as the products passtoward the narrower end of the passage, after having given off a largeportion of their heat, they are brought into more intimate contact withthe partition. The plates forming this partition are constructed withribs on both sides, as shown more clearly in the enlarged cross-sectionthereof at Fig. 3, so as to offer very extended surfaces for taking upthe heat from the products and imparting them to the air. Anyaccumulation of solid deposit in the passage L may be readily removedfrom time to time through the door L as shown. Above the chamber D ofthe producer steam or other suitable fluid is led into the retortOthrough one or more pipes, Q, in order, as before stated, by itsdecomposition in contact with the highly-heated carbonaceous matter, toform pure carbonic oxide and hydrogen, which mix and pass off with thegases distilled of! above. This steam or other fluid is supplied inregulated quantity by the following arrangement: Outside the producer isa tank, P, supplied with the water or other liquid employed, and havingseveral overflow cocks, P, at different levels, so that by opening anyone of these cooks the water can be maintained at a corresponding levelin the tank. The pipe Q leads from the bottom of the tank in a slantingdirection upward through the heated walls of the producer to a levelsomewhat above the highest level at which water can stand in the tank.Thus according to the level at which the water is maintained in the tanka greater or less volume thereof will be subjected inside the pipe tothe heat of the producer, whereby a greater or less quantity of steamwill be generated and introduced into the retort. The waste water fromthe overflow of the tank may be led by a pipe, P either into awater-space in the bottom of the chamber 1), as shown, or into the tankE, or elsewhere.

As before stated, if it be desired to produce a gas of high illuminatingpower, then some hydrocarbon vapor may be introduced into the retort ina similar manner to that above described.

The operation of the producer is as follows: Assuming the chamber D tohave been filled with burning fuel, and that the walls of the retort. Chave become heated sufiiciently by the combustion in the chamber H, theretort is filled up to the apertures O, leadinginto the annular channelB, with coke, and above that with coal. As the fuel becomes consumed inthe chamberD the contentsof the retort sink, (their descent may beaccelerated by the removal of coke from the tank E, if desired,) thecoal in the upper part of the retort de' scends into the highly-heatedcompartment 0, and the gas production begins, the distilled gasespassing through the apertures 0 into the annular space B, whence theyare withdrawn by an exhauster through the pipe B, together with theother gases produced by the decomposition ofthe steam below. Meanwhilefresh coal is fed at the top. w The exhauster action and thechimneydraft are so adjusted to balance each other that none of thedistilled gas finds its way to the chimney, and none, or only a limitedquantity, of the products of imperfect combustion in the chamber Dmingle with the gas distilled above. For producing gas for heatingpurposes the whole of the carbonaceous matter should be utilized, and inthat case such portions of the gas produced in the chamberD as are notrequired for heat ing the distillation-space may be drawn off by theexhauster along with the gas distilled off, if the presence of a certainproportion ofnitrogen is not objectionable for the purposes to which thegases are applied; but when the gases are used for illuminating purposesthe whole of the said products should be drawn otf,

either to be wholly burned in the chamber H or to be partly led away tobe used for other purposes. It will be evident that the abovedescribedconstruction of gas-producer may also be applied to the calcining ofores and other minerals, or for carbonizing substances, for whichpurposes it would only be necessary to mix the necessary proportion ofcarbonaceous matter with the substances to be operated upon whencharging them into the upper end of the retort. In this case the wholeof the carbonaceous gases evolved may be caused to pass through thefines G into the chamber H, to be there burned, instead of being partlylet oEt' through the openings 0 above.

Having thus described the nature of my invention, and in what manner thesame is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I am aware ithas already been proposed to draw oft combustible gases from the lowerend of continuous gas-producers to enter into combustion with heated airin passages outside the shaft or retort in which the fuel descends, sucharrangements having been described in the specification to SiemenssBritish Patent No. 972 of 1863, and in that of Attrill and Farmer, No.569 of 1880; and I do therefore not claim this construction and mode ofoperation, generally.

I am also aware that a patent is being applied for by N. A. Otto fordrawing off a portion of the carbonic acid gas from immediately abovethe fire-grates of gas-producers, and utilizing the residual heat of thecombustion for decomposing steam and other fluids, and I do not claimsuch method of operating; but

I claim- 1. In apparatus for the manufacture of gas, a vertical retorthaving side openings at its lower part, communicating with passagesleading into a surrounding chamber for leading off carbonic oxide andnitrogen into the latter, in combination with means for supplying steamor water to the interior of the retort at a point above the said sideopenings, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A gas-producer consisting of a vertical retort having side openingsin its lower part,

communicating with passages leading into the upper part of acombustion-chamber surrounding the retort, into the upper part of whichchamber also open passages for conducting heated air from a regenerator,and having a third set of passages leading from the bottom of the saidchamber to the regencrator for conducting the hot products of combustionfrom the former into the latter, in combination with the regenerator,substantially as herein described.

3. A regenerator for imparting the heat from the products ofcombustionto the incoming air, consisting of a chamber divided by a metallicpartition, N, into a narrow compartment, L, through which the airpasses, and a comparatively large compartment, L through which theproducts of combustion pass, the said metallic partition consisting ofplates having ribs or projections on both sides, offering very extendedsurfaces both for taking up heat from the products'of combustion and forimparting such heat to the air, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the feeding-chamber A with annular chamber B forleading off the products of distillation, shaft or retort O, the

, the bottom of the tank upward through the producers to a height at orabove the highest water-level ot' the tank, substantially as described.

In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 20th day ot'April, A. D.1881.

EUGEN LANGEN.

Witnesses:

EMIL MEISENBURG, Orro FERBER.

